I was explaining blogging once to Dad, that it was sort of like a diary but on line for the whole world (or any subset that's interested) to read, and he asked, "Do you tell the truth?" Well, no. He has a point. There's some discomfort levels I just can't get past in a forum as public as this, so I certainly don't tell the whole truth. Hopefully enough to get by.

So I've not been all here this month because it's been brutal and exhausting and I'm very, very tired. So let's talk about the iris and the anniversary:

Out in the front yard we've a triangle of iris that are putting on a show this year the likes of which we've not seen this decade we've lived here. They started as a little clump left to us by the former owner, frankly unloved. Lissa has loved them extensively, separating and spreading them until one whole corner of the yard is well groomed iris country. She's added a lot of new bulbs, but the patch is still dominated by the purple that we started with.

Last year we added an automatic drip irrigation system, which means that for the first time the iris got consistent water instead of the haphazard hand-watering we’ve always done. Then this spring things were unusually wet. Between the sprinklers and the spring rains, the iris seem content and willing to show their gratitude with a magnificent display.

The other great thing April had to offer was Mom and Dad's 50th anniversary:

Lissa and Nora, with a smidge of help from me, threw a party for them and their friends over at their place, then the five of us went out to a nice dinner. It was sweet and lovely and they seem both happy and content with a fine marriage and genuine lifetime spent together.

Oh yeah. And my kid and her chums at the Albuquerque High School drama department did King Lear. Nora gets pissed if one suggests that that is an ambitious thing for a student drama group to do, and I've come to realize that she's right. They do tough stuff all the time, and real work, kids or not. So I'll just say I was immensely proud to see my daughter up there on stage, and King Lear's an ambitious undertaking for anyone.

See, April 2004 wasn't so bad after all, was it?